Office



G. N. WINSLOW;

TRAP SCREEN (No Medel.)

Ne.- 568,185. Petented Sept. 22.1896.

- a simple and inexpensive construction,where nently confined.

NITE v GORHAM N. wiNsLow, or PEABODY,MASSACHUSETTS.

TRAP-SCREEN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 568,185, dated september `2.2, 189e.

Application tiled October 10, 1895.1 SerialNo; 565,254. (No modell) To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GORHAM N. WINSLOW, a citizen of the United States, residing at Peabody, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Trap-Screens for Windows and Doors, of which the following is a E specication.

The purpose of my invention is to provide a trap-screen for Windows and doors, having by the entrance of fliesand other insects from the outside shall be effectually prevented, while those within the apartment protected by the screen shall be trapped and perma- It is my aim to provide a trap-screen having a novel construction of such simplicity that its functions as an in-` sect-trap will not be noticed and to avail myself of the naturalattraction which nearly all insects have for the light, thereby entirely avoiding all use of bait, poison, adhesive paper, and other insect-destroyers and clearing an apartment of flies and all insects attracted by light more quickly and perfectly than is possible by the use of all other known means, avoiding at the same time the dirt and the unpleasant and unsightly fly-traps, fly-papers, and poison-dishes commonly used to remove iiies from houses. It is my purpose also to provide a construction by which the trapped insects may be easily and quickly removed from the screen when dead without necessarily removing the screen from the window.

My invention consists, to these ends, in the novel features of construction and new combinations of parts hereinafter fully described, and then particularly pointed out and de fined in the claims which conclude this specification.

To enable others to make and use my said invention, I will proceed to describe the same in detail, referring for this purpose to the accompanying drawings, in which* Figure l is an elevation of a trap-screen, showing the inner face thereof. Fig. 2 is a vertical section substantially in the line 2 2, Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a view showing the application of the invention to a screen-door, and Fig. e is a detail section of a portion of the screen upon a slightly-enlarged scale.

"The referencefnumeral l in said drawings indicates a rectangular frame for a screen,

`its construction being of any preferred kind,

las my invention is not confined to any special g form of the frame or tothe manner of mountling the wire screens thereon.

The numeral 2'denot`es an" outer, and 3 an inner, screen, bothinountedon' the frame l .in such manner as to have an interval of suitable width between them. The outer screen 2 extends over the entire area inclosed by the frame, but the inner screen 3 terminates at a bar l parallel with the lower member of the frame and one or t'wo inches above the same. The space between this bar and the bottom of the frame is closed by a gate 5, which is preferably hinged by one edge, so that it maybe opened to give access to the lower part of the space inclosed between the screens. The inner screen 3 is provided at suitable intervals with openings 6, formed of such size as to permit a fly or other insect to pass through. I may use any desired number of these openings and arrange them at such points as may b e preferred. Ordinarily, however, several of such. openings separated from eachA other by considerable intervals will give the desired'result.

When the screen is placed in a window, the flies in the apartment, attracted by the light, ily to and walk over the inner screen 3. Meeting the openings 6, as they soon do, they invariably pass through and enter the space between the two screens. Here the attraction which the light exerts causes them to remain upon the inner side of the outer screen 2, which is imperforate, and they remain, therefore, in the inclosed space until they die or are removed. Escape through the openings 6 rarely, if ever, takes place. When dead, the insects fall to the bottom of the inclosed space and may be removed by raising the gate and brushing them out, there being no necessity of removing the screen from the window.

By this invention all the flies in the apartment can be removed in a remarkably short time without employing bait or using any lure except the attraction of the light passing through the screens. Moreoveigas there is ample room to allow footing upon the outer screen for a very largenumber of iiies im IOO prisoned between the two, there will be no sustained loud buzzing noise so commonly heard in fly-traps after a considerable number have been caught.

I may, in some cases, mount the inner screen 3 upon three light strips l, its lower edge being attached to the bar 4., which carries the gate 5. This screen may thus be rendered detachable, if desired, and can be used separately, if required. IVhen combined with the outer screen 2, it may be fastened to the frame l by small screws or in any other suitable manner. When used as a single screen, the screen 3 permits the escape of insects from a room bypassing through the openings 6 therein, but they are not trapped and destroyed, as they merely escape to the exterior. Any construction for mounting the two screens on separate frames may be used, the simpler and less expensive being the best.

What I claim as my invention isl. A trap-screen consisting of a single frame having two sheets of gauze or netting stretched thereon and separated from each other, the inner sheet alone having openings for the passage of insects, and a gate for the removal of the latter, substantially as described.

2. A trap-screen comprising two sheets of gauze, or netting, stretched upon a single frame and separated from each other, the inner screen alone being provided with openings to permit insects to enter the intermediate space, and a gate between the lower member of the frame and a bar parallel therewith to permit the removal of the insects, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GORHAM N. VVINSLOV.

NTitnesses:

WILLIAM T. SLAsoN, CHAs. B. TILDEN. 

